Category: Inventory

How do you find items to sell online?

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn Inventory, Selling tips, Tips for the beginner, Vintage, Vintage, Vintage!Leave a comment

One of the more common questions that I am asked is how I find items to sell online.  Some of the more common places to find items are estate sales, auctions and even flea markets are common, and you can even find items at local thrift stores.

So where are some other places that that I find items to sell online?

Did you know that you can even find items in junkyards?  The obvious items to be found there are car parts.  I have seen other items like enamel signs, wire baskets and even gas pumps hanging out in junkyards.

I have also found items to sell on the curb of my own neighborhood that my neighbors set out at the curb for free.

The clearance isle of a store is a good possibility of finding items as well.

These are just a few ways to find items to sell.  How have you found the items you sell?

What are some tips for people that are starting to sell online?

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn Inventory, Selling tips, Tips for the beginnerLeave a comment

You have shopped on websites like eBay and Etsy, now you have decided to take the plunge and sell some stuff on one of those sites.

What are some tips to keep in mind when you do?

The first thing to remember is sell something that you have around the house, you don’t have to make a special purchase when you dive into selling.

The next thing to remember is the selling sites will take a percentage of the sale to cover any fee that will occur when you sell an item.  I would check to see what the fee is before I listed the item.

Another thing to remember is to consider the time it takes to sell an item.  I have seen a wide variety of how long it takes to sell an item after it is listed—there have been items that sell within seconds after listing it and there have been another take two months to sell.

This is a small handful of tips when you start to sell online.  What tips help you out?

When it comes to selling an item online, how do you know how to price it?

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn Inventory, Selling tips, Tips for the beginnerLeave a comment

Not too long ago, you purchased an item that you were wanting to list online and try to sell.  You have some terrific pictures of it and even a killer description of the item to post in the listing.  There is one thing that you are now starting to mull over—what kind of price do I put on it?

An easy thing to do is to do a general google search for it.  This way you can get a good range on not only what it is listed for sale online, but what it sells for as well.

Another thing that you can do is to ask a fellow dealer and see if they have sold a similar item.  One thing to keep in mind is if the dealer thinks that they can make a profit on it, they might make you an offer on your item.

The third way that you can find a price for your item is to do a little bit of math—I have seen a LOT of people take the price that they paid for the item and double it (if you paid $10 for it you would charge $20 with this method).  I have seen people use this method myself and it works (especially if I really can’t find a comparable item online or if I am talking to another dealer).

This is a few of the tricks to keep in mind when you are trying to get a price for an item you are going to sell online.  What kind of tricks have you heard of?

Where are some of the strange places that you have found inventory to sell?

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn Beginning to collect, Inventory, Selling tips, Tips for the beginnerLeave a comment

When it comes to finding inventory, the best rule of thumb is to keep your eyes open.  You never know where you will find something—it could be anywhere from the trunk of a Honda to a Church.

One weird place that I got some inventory was a neighbor’s trash can—a person was throwing away a TOMS countertop wire rack.  Another neighbor down the street from me was going to throw away a movie card that I asked if I could have (and I still have it).

Countless sheds, outbuildings and barns have also had many things that I have bought.  Make sure you even check the rafters of these buildings.

There was also the out of business grocery store.  There was a local auction company that was having a sale there—you could still see that the meat department still stocked with its slicer and tables there.  It was interesting to see all of that when I bought a wood Hayward Wakefield table at the sale.

One of the strangest places that I found a piece to sell is a chicken coup—it had a 4-foot tall by 8-foot-long enamel Coca Cola sign inside.

What was the strangest place that I have ever bought something out of?  It was a haunted house that was on the back of a person’s property.

This is a small handful of strange places that I have bought inventory to sell.  Where are some strange places that you have bought inventory at?

Tips to remember when you are buying inventory

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn Beginning to collect, Inventory, Shopping tips, Tips for the beginnerLeave a comment

When you are new to the world of buying and selling, you may not know where to buy inventory for your business.  What are some tips to remember when you are out and about looking for deals?

It might sound like I’m pulling your leg, but I keep an eye out for inventory wherever I am.  You never know where you might be when an item might turn up.  I have literally found items that people are giving away by the curb of a street that I have turned around and sold.

Carry pocket change—it can be a life saver.  When the summer rolls around, I throw a couple dollars’ worth of change in my pocket.  It is always welcome by the people running the sale.

Poke around online.  You can find cheap inventory for sale, even with the shipping added in.  You can also look online at websites like Craigslist for items that might be for sale that you could pick up and then sell.

This is just a handful of things to remember when it comes to buying inventory for you to sell.  What tips have you run across?

What are some places for you to get inventory to sell online?

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn Inventory, Selling tips, Shopping tips, The Internet, Tips for the beginnerLeave a comment

When you start to sell items online, you will run across a question that could stump you—where can you go to find inventory?  Garage sales, estate sales and even auctions are popular ways to find inventory.  Here are some of the other places that you can go to find inventory:

Church sales are a good place to go because there will be a large amount for you to look at.  Not only that, but there will also be a wide variety of items that you will run across.  This type of sale is usually a fundraiser for something like a mission trip or do raise money to do something at the church, so there is a great chance that the price of the item will be low.

Goodwill is also a great place to go to find inventory.  Not only is there the regular store, but Goodwill also has outlet stores where you can buy it by the pound.  I can’t tell you how many deals I have bought there—it’s one of my favorite places to go.

Moving sales are a lot like going to a garage sale.  The main difference between the two is that a moving sale is where they are getting rid as much as possible so they can move and not take it with them.  There have been moving sales that I have attended where I have seen the seller even give items away.

Going out of business sales are probably overlooked by some.  I have bought everything from tools to sports jerseys and even home decorations at this type of sale, and I have also seen clothing racks, shelves and even light fixtures for sale.  Not only can you get items to sell online, but you can also get what you need to get organized while you sell.

This is a small sample of places that you can go to find inventory to sell online.  What are some of the places that you have gone too to find inventory?